Fight Or Flight
by BlytheAmity
Summary: A teenaged outlaw and her Dragon partner have fled from their home and crash landed in Burk. Full summary inside.


Fight Or Flight

Summary

About a year after the events of the movie, life in Burk is perfect. The dragons and humans all live in peace, and no problems have threatened them since the Blue Death was defeated. However things don't stay perfect much longer. When sixteen year old freedom fighter Keelin and her partner, a female Night Fury called Phoenix, crash after being attacked by an evil prince named Garth. Hiccup and Toothless find them and learn of Keelin's ability to speak telepathically to her dragon. They also learn of their problem in the form of the prince Garth who wishes to kill them both. As both Keelin and Phoenix are cynical after years of being hunted and hated, they completely ignore Hiccup's offers of help. But when Garth attacks Burk and injures Stoick, the fight becomes personal. Toothless, Hiccup, Astrid and all their friends come with Keelin as she and her dragon travel to stop Garth from grabbing hold of the whole Norse empire.

**Author's Notes: An asterisk will be used to mark telepathic conversation between Phoenix and Keelin. **

Prologue

At the fast pace she was moving, the black dragon was almost invisible in the night. The wind whipping around her, she snorted and turned her head around.

_*Do you think we lost him?* _She asked the teenaged girl on her back.

Her friend met her shiny copper eyes and scowled. _*Probably not, but I guess it's possible. Let's keep our guard up just in case. You know that bastard isn't likely to give up if he thinks we got out alive.* _

The dragon snorted again and turned her head back to the horizon. *_You almost didn't.*_

_*Phoenix, how many times do I have to tell you I'm fine?*_

_*I can feel the blood from your hands running onto my scales. Don't try to fool me.*_

The brown haired girl smiled grimly, sometimes her friend struck closer to the truth the she knew.

_*Like I said, I'm fine. You would know if I was seriously in-* _

Like the screaming of a thousand damned souls, the screeching suddenly filled the air. And the girl tensed as the sound grated against her ears. _*Up!* _she screamed in her mind.

The dragon jerked her ebony head up and the rest of her body followed. A ball of red energy exploded where they had been seconds ago. Swirling around to face her adversary, she snarled in rage.

"Why do you insist on hounding us?" Phoenix commanded in her dragon language.

There was a hiss, and the other Night Fury came into view his coal red eyes practically glowing in the night. The blond boy on his back smiled nastily.

"It's good to see you again, Keelin." He said, nodding at the girl. "I was hoping you would stick around after robbing me. I so wanted to give you and your reptilian friend a tour of our castle."

"Fat chance, you royal pig." The girl retorted (in Norse). And her dragon snarled in agreement.

"Now, now, no need to be rude. All I want is to talk to the both of you." His smile faltered slightly, "But first I'll need the necklace you stole, it belongs to my father you see."

Now it was Keelin's turn to smile nastily, and she reached into the folds of her fur lined coat. After a moment of searching, her fingers found what they were looking for. They came back into view, holding a golden necklace wrought into the shape of a dragon head.

"You mean this?" She asked, beginning to swing it by the chain. "You need it, correct?"

"That's correct." He held out his hand, and raised an eyebrow. "May I have it back?"

The girl nodded, "Nothing pleases me more than serving you, O glorious Prince Garth." She said dryly. " You can have it back, _after_ you pry it out of my cold dead fingers." She stuffed it back into her coat, and adjusted her grip on the black scales of her companion.

The prince shook his head, "I really don't know what happened to you, Keelin." He said, "We were _friends_. You were my father's most loyal warrior. Then we give you a dragon fit for royalty, and you turn on us like this. I don't understand."

"And unless you get your head out of whatever bucket you stuck it in, you never will."

The prince took a moment to study his once best friend. The tall girl had changed so much over the last two years, it was hard to believe they were the same person. Her grey eyes, which had once danced and glinted, were now stormy and full of hatred. Her brown hair was matted and spiked out around her head, not even revealing a remote sign of the curls it had once sported. The one thing that was the same, was the sword hanging from her hip, and the blue shield on her back.

The sword was a strange unnamed metal, as black as her dragon and strong as steel, the hilt white silver. It had been forged in a remote village that had once existed on the side of the cliffs that overlooked the sea. The shield, was a normal round one of wood and leather, but the color and picture were what made it unusual. Instead of a normal design of a dragon or snake, there was a picture of a eight pointed star.

"Keelin, give me the necklace." He said. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

The girl took to studying her dragon's neck with a hard glance, and for several seconds the only sound that could be heard was the soft flapping of dragon wings. Then she looked up at him.

"No."

With a screech, the she-dragon twisted in the air, and dove straight down like an arrow. The prince shouted in rage and alarm, and gave his dragon a kick to get him going. The red eyed dragon jerked down immediately, following close behind.

_*Get them, Lazarus!* _Prince Garth ordered his dragon. _*If they insist on being killed, then fine! I'll pry it from her hands just as she wanted.* _

_*I aim to please, Master.*_ With a roar, the dragon straightened his body, stretched his legs and claws out like a cat, and prepared to rip into the other dragon. However, Phoenix twisted, and avoided his attack completely. Slapping him with her tail before pushing forward again.

"You forget, traitorous earthworm!"The enraged Night Fury shouted. "You aren't the only one with a tail!"

His large tail came whistling through the air, and as Keelin turned it hit her face, knocking her off and sending a spray of blood from her mouth. *_Oh Gods.*_ she thought as her sight faded to black.

When the hands were ripped from her scales, the dragoness roared and immediately dove down to catch her now free falling friend. The tops of trees whipped by, and the dragoness snatched the girl from the air and held her protectively to her stomach.

The whining sound that signaled a charging energy blast rang out, and knowing they were too close to the ground to pull up, Phoenix twisted onto her back and wrapped her wings around her human. The momentum carried them forward. And with a snarl, the female Night Fury let loose her own energy blast. This one yellow as opposed to the red. The counter attack hit the dragon and his rider just before Phoenix hit the forest floor.

Sliding quickly across pine needles and rotten leaves, she braced every muscle in her body around the bundle wrapped against her. There was a cliff edge that she slipped off of, and with a splash, she landed in a black heap at the edge of the lake. With a slight groan, she passed out.

Garth directed his dragon over the trees, looking for his lost prey. *_Damn it! You stupid sack of scales! Why on earth did you slap the girl? Didn't you see they were going to crash?* _He shouted mentally.

*_Apologies, Master.* _The dragon replied. *_I aimed for her dragon.* _

_*Never mind! You can see in the dark, where are they?* _

The dragon scanned the forest, everything illuminated in the night vision. Something twinkling nearby caught his eye and he grunted.

*_A village is nearby.* _He reported, _*The trees are too thick to see through, but if they are alive, they will go to the village.* _

The prince thought about this, *_You're right,_* He said after a moment. _*Two days. Then we make our move. Let's get going.*_

_**-Line Break-**_

**Author's Notes: Totally been wanting to post this forever. Love the HTTYD series, and basically anything with dragons on it. Leave a review for me, and any tips on how to improve would be greatly appreciated.**

**P.S: Fair warning people; this will be one of those darker stories. Peppered with humor provided by our favorite Vikings. Maybe slight HiccupXAstrid. But I don't write romance on principle, so don't get your hopes up. **


End file.
